The Darling Girls cover art

The Darling Girls

 Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

The Darling Girls

By: Emma Burstall
Narrated by: Laura Kirman
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

About this listen

When the world-famous conductor Leo Bruck dies suddenly, the three women who loved him meet for the first time at his graveside. Victoria, his partner of 20 years and mother of two of his children; Maddy, mother of Leo's daughter Phoebe; and 24-year-old Cat. Can these three very different women, whose lives become inextricably bound, break free from the masterful control Leo exerts - even from the grave?

©2013 Emma Burstall (P)2014 W F Howes Ltd Fiction Romance Women's Fiction Greek Mythology Mythology Ancient Greece

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Tremarnock cover art
The House on Rockaway Beach cover art
Second Chances at Cherry Tree Cottage cover art
Christmas Wishes at the Chocolate Shop cover art
Coming Home to Puddleduck Farm cover art
The Long Way Home cover art
Heading Home to Lavender Cottage cover art
Secrets at the Last House Before the Sea cover art
My One Month Marriage cover art
Wartime with the Cornish Girls cover art
The Cornish Cream Tea Bus cover art
Sunshine over Bluebell Cliff cover art
Snowflakes Over the Starfish Café cover art
The Cornish Midwife cover art
The Little Shop of Hidden Treasures cover art
The Judas Tree cover art

Critic reviews

"Smart, funny and poignant" (Daily Mirror)
"I couldn't put it down. I loved this honest, absorbing story. A terrific read." (Lorraine Kelly)
All stars
Most relevant
Nice and unusual plot with complicated and believable characters.
However, the book was ruined by the narrator who clearly hadn't a clue or cared what she was reading, she read the whole book, dead pan, like a badly punctuated shopping list.
I'll make sure to avoid her in future.

Great plot, despite the reader.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
This is the second time I have listened to this book. Harry Potter is the only other ones for me to do this. Story kept you engaged and wanting to know what would be the fall out as situations occurred and new information came to light.

A Page Turner

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I gave up on the narrator when she pronounced violin bow as violin bough! Her mispronunciations were scattered throughout the story. Please narrators and producers, if you’re American pretending to be English, do your homework. Some of our words , especially names, have pronunciations that definitely come out of left field. If you’re actually English, shame on you. Go back to school!
The story was nice. I listened to it quite happily though I was expecting more music than it contained. The great conductor could have been an actor or an MP. His profession played little part.

Poor narrator

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Fast becoming one of my favourite authors, it feels like you really know the characters and they could be you’re friends

Lovely read

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A bit long winded and not a good ending - Shame as it started so well !

The darling girls

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews